The future of the car is electric, but the future of mobility is not the private car

CO₂ emissions linked to the use of an electric car are less than for a combustion engine car, but still far from being environmentally friendly: in any case, the use of electric cars - by themselves – will not allow us to reach our climate objectives.

The production of electric cars emits more greenhouse gases (GHGs) than that of combustion engine cars because of the manufacture of electric batteries. On top of that, to extract metals for electric car batteries, you need water, a lot of water. Producing one kg of copper can require up to 270 litres of water, one kg of nickel 1700 litres, and one kg of lithium 2000 litres. However, 75% of mines are located in countries with high risk of water scarcity. In Morocco for example, a country already suffering from drought, mines are swallowing up water resources, leaving farmers unable to irrigate their crops or without running water in their homes.

It is therefore essential to combine electrification with a reduction of the material resources used for our mobility, i.e. shift to vehicles which are lighter and more aerodynamic: the SUV does not meet these requirements!

In addition, the electric car does not reduce the space taken by private cars, which limits the space for other forms of mobility and reinforces urban heat islands. It also fails to address problems of road accidents and of physical inactivity. The use of the electric car must therefore be accompanied by a change in behaviour: going on foot, by bike or by public transport when possible. A more limited use of vehicles would also offer the possibility of sharing including through carpooling and carsharing sites.

It's also essential to extend the lifetime of these energy intensive cars and to use a vehicle that meets most frequent needs. At the moment, each car on the road has an average occupancy of only 1.6 passengers; meaning in most cases, a small car should suffice.

To electrify all cars currently on the market, it would be necessary to have mines covering 5 times the area of Belgium. Not to mention that the extraction of these metals contributes to the exploitation of local populations (leading to conflicts, wars and human rights violations as for example in Congo and Rwanda).

There are not enough resources on the planet – we need to change to a less resource-intense approach to transport.